We’re gleefully brought back to the world of John Wick with the latest entry into the series: From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina. Ballerina is set between John Wick 3: Parabellum and John Wick 4. The film follows Eve (Ana de Armas) on a quest for vengeance, whom we first met in John Wick 3. Her father, Javier (David Castañeda), was murdered by The Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne) when Eve was a child.
She was taken in by the Ruska Roma, the same people John Wick (Keanu Reeves) worked for. She wants to avenge her father and correct a grave injustice.
Because of her thirst for vengeance, we get to see a time between two movies we’ve come to love and enjoy. We get to revisit old friends and new villains.
We also get to explore new leadership ideas. Let’s look at the leadership lessons in Ballerina.
Quotes And Leadership Lessons From Ballerina
1. Your performance will get better the more you practice:
The film opens with a young Eve. She’s talking with her father. She’s frustrated.
Eve tells her father she performed poorly. She’ll never be a good ballerina. Her father corrects her.
He tells Eve that she’ll get better with time. The more she practices, the more effort she puts in, the better she’ll get.
Guess what? If you feel like you suck as a leader, you may. But you can get better.
Leaders who practice leadership skills and principles will get better. They’ll begin to think and lead like someone who has been leading for an extended period of time.
Don’t give up on leading because you feel like you’re not leading well. Keep practicing, asking for help, and stepping up your game.
2. Javier:
Remember what we learned, okay?
A cult of mercenaries sent their soldiers after Javier. He had tried to take Eve away from their alpine compound. The Chancellor wasn’t having any of that and wanted the girl back.
As the soldiers burst into their home, Javier springs into action. He begins to move toward his daughter as he’s throwing cans of red smoke grenades.
Eventually reaching Eve, Javier asks her if she remembers what they had learned. Eve did and moved with her father to safety.
What if we, as leaders, asked our team members this question? What if we discovered whether or not they retained the knowledge they’ve been given?
It’s not to weed out the bad employees. We ask this question to help reinforce what they’ve learned. If there’s a lack of retention, you can help reinforce their training. If they’ve got it, good!
Don’t be afraid to ask if your team remembers their training.
3. Bad leaders give people impossible choices:
The Chancellor and his men capture Javier. He puts Javier between a rock and a hard place as The Chancellor gives Javier an ultimatum.
What’s the ultimatum?
Javier can either shoot himself and his daughter lives. Or… Javier can try to escape and his daughter will be tracked down and killed.
Neither option appeals to me. I bet neither appeals to you either.
The choice Javier was given was an impossible choice.
What choices are you giving your people? Are you giving them choices at all?
You may be like The Chancellor. The choices you give lead to negative repercussions either way.
Great leaders don’t give impossible choices. They look for ways to have a win-win outcome.
4. Nogi (Sharon Duncan-Brewster):
Lean into your strengths.
Eve trained with the Ruska Roma for quite some time. There was ballerina training. There were role-playing escapes, and then there was the fight training.
Nogi watched as Eve struggled to advance. Eve kept slipping and falling during her dance training. She would get shot in the role-playing escapes. And she’d get beaten in the fight training.
It seemed as if Eve would fail.
Then Nogi gave her the advice to lean into her strengths. As Eve did, she excelled. She breezed through the Ruska Roma training to become a killer assassin.
Now, I don’t want you to become an assassin. What I want you to become is an amazing leader who changes the world in positive ways.
How do you do this? Lean into your strengths, not the strengths of those who led you in the past.
You have unique skills, different opinions, and amazing insights. Don’t keep doing what everyone else around you does.
Use your strengths to make yourself better. The result will be an easier time leading and better results.
5. Eve:
Why didn’t you leave?
Eve meets John Wick. In their brief interaction, Eve asks John how to get out. John thought she was talking about escaping the Ruska Roma and told her the door is unlocked.
What Eve really meant was how does she get out into the world and do what he did… become an assassin. John’s response shocked her.
He once again tells her she can get out. There’s time to leave before she becomes a permanent part of the Ruska Roma.
With this answer, Eve has a question… Why didn’t you leave? She knew John had stayed. Yet, here he is, encouraging her to get out. Why???
You have to consider why you’ve stayed with your organization. Is it because they treat you well? Do they make a noticeable difference in the world? Are you receiving fair or better than fair compensation?
There are plenty of reasons to stay. You’re going to have to give a reckoning for why you stay. Whether that’s to yourself, your spouse, or a coworker.
Think long and hard… Why have you stayed? What’s keeping you there?
6. Your name has power:
Eve goes to The Continental Hotel. That’s the safe zone for assassins. There’s no killing, fighting, or dealings to happen there.
She approaches Charon (Lance Reddick), the concierge. She tells him she wants to meet with The Manager.
Charon asks if she is expected. She’s not. But then she states her name.
The tone changes. Charon gives her a meeting with The Manager.
Eve’s name moved obstacles. Great leaders can do the same.
As your name becomes more well-known, you can move mountains with the goodwill or renown of your name. Ensure you’re building up a legacy people respect and are willing to move things around for.
The better your name, the more positive power your name has.
7. A leader’s actions can make situations worse:
Eve learns where one of the cult members is located: Prague. She flies there to meet with him at their Continental Hotel.
That man is Daniel Pine (Norman Reedus).
Daniel has the X mark on his wrist. It’s the same as the man who killed Eve’s father. She becomes incensed. She demands answers.
While Eve is talking to Daniel, their phones go off. The contract on Daniel’s head has now doubled. There are killers after him.
Daniel tells Eve that she’s now made things worse. Daniel was in a similar situation as Javier. He wanted a better life for his daughter, Ella (Ava Joyce McCarthy). He wanted to escape from the cult. Now, there are more assassins after him and his daughter.
Oh boy… Have you been there before? I have in various situations. I thought an action I would take would improve the situation. Only to find out that my choice made things worse.
We don’t always think through the full scope of a decision. We don’t consider who it will impact, how it will change the dynamics of our teams, or if we can get out of it.
Make sure you thoroughly examine the choices you’re making. Your actions may not make things better. It may make them worse.
When that happens, do your best to make things better.
8. Look for ways to create new things:
Eve begins to hunt down the cult that had killed her father. She had tracked them to Hallstatt, Austria, a remote village.
There, she is attacked by a man in a restaurant. Soon, she’s attacked by more people as she discovers the village isn’t what it appears. Everyone there was out to get her!
In the fight, she finds a handgun and tapes a knife to the grip. The new tool she created allowed her to shoot when necessary and attack at close range when needed.
She combined two things to make one extremely useful tool.
What tools or resources are available in your organization? Do you feel like there’s not enough? Maybe the tools aren’t powerful or versatile enough.
Consider combining the tools you have to make more effective devices. You might be able to combine your ERP with a CMMS to manage your production machines better. Or you may be able to combine your dashboards to create more effective ways of monitoring efficiency.
Combining things can create the resources you need that you might not be able to afford.
9. Great leaders offer positive choices:
John Wick was sent to Hallstatt to deal with Eve’s interference in the village. He was to deal with the problem.
However, he had a different way of resolving the conflict. He offered Eve a new choice. What was the choice?
Eve could leave the village. Eve rejected the choice. John kept offering her the choice. Eventually, the choice he gave changed. John told her she had until midnight to take care of The Chancellor.
That was a choice Eve could live with.
What choices are you offering your people? Do you give them choices they can live with? Do you help them find positive choices?
You don’t have to get frustrated, upset, or angry because your team member doesn’t respond positively to your first option. You can look for alternatives that work out just as well.
Great leaders offer positive choices.
10. You’re more effective than others think:
There’s a firefight in the village. A couple of cult members look at each other. The man tells the lady they’re in trouble. John Wick is there.
The lady almost chuckles. She tells the man that John is only one man. That’s the last thing she says.
John Wick was more effective than the woman gave him credit for. He moved in quickly and killed them both.
Those around you may look down on you. They may not see you as effective.
Guess what?!? They’re wrong. You have skills, talents, and ideas that put you into the role you’re in. You’re there for a reason.
Because you’re effective.
Don’t let others’ opinions of you stop you from leading well. You have the necessary skills to get the job done.
